Moving extremely heavy loads has generally been a complicated task because of the large forces involved in lifting and transporting the heavy loads. In known transport structures, large loads may be transported by disassembling or breaking up the load or the load bearing frame of the transport structure into multiple smaller sections and/or loads. However, this break-down and subsequent reassembly process can be very time consuming, especially when a heavy load is only to be moved a small distance, or needs to be repositioned.
For transport structures configured to move heavy loads that may need periodic repositioning or adjustment, devices commonly referred to as “walking machines” or “walkers” were developed. These machines may be configured to move the heavy loads over small distances in incremental stages. For example, walking machines may be used to move large structures, such as oil rigs, in order to sequentially position them over a number of pre-drilled pipes in an oil field.
Additionally, heavy duty axle assemblies have been developed to transport and/or support heavy loads, for example that may weigh one million pounds or more. The axle assemblies may be attached to a suspension system comprising a substantially vertical hydraulic cylinder that is typically connected directly to the load bearing frame of the transport structure at a position above the axle assembly. While the hydraulic cylinder may be used to adjust the relative position of the axle assembly to the frame, additional frame height and/or clearance may be required to accommodate known suspension systems. The increased height of the frame may additionally result in an increased vertical center of gravity of the load that is supported on the frame, which may affect load stability.
The present invention addresses these and other problems.